THE ANTARCTIC

The Antarctic hosts the world’s largest protected environment, comprising 1.07 million km2.Most of the continent is permanently covered by ice and snow, with less than 1% of the land exposed. Human visitors have frequented the South Pole region – explorers, whalers, scientists and military at research centres – and recently it has been opened to tourists. The huge penguin colonies here were used by early whalers to locate their camps as their presence suggested both a warmer microclimate and locations where the snow and ice were likely to be thinnest. Experiencing the midnight light is surreal: monochromatic but with a full dynamic range, it is like being inside the perfect black and white negative.